Contextualizing Adolescent Female Physical Activity Behavior: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) behavior tends to decline as youth get older, especially in female adolescents. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of female adolescent moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behavior. Baseline MVPA data was collected during year one of a female-specific PA related program. The Youth Activity Profile was administered to contextualize current middle school female PA levels. Data were collected on over 600 6th-8th grade youths with even distributions by grade. No significant differences between grade, race/ethnicity, and MVPA minutes were found. The average estimated value for daily MVPA across all grades was 43.93 (+/-12.97) min, which is considerably lower than the public health recommendation of 60 min per days. Similar amounts were observed for weekend days 45.03 (+/-19.98) and weekdays 45.50 (+/-13.14); however, allocations were smaller during school (9.45 +/- 5.13 min) than at home (34.04 +/- 11.15). The findings from this study highlight the need for further investigation in developing sustainable and innovative PA interventions that target adolescent females.